Massoud Barzani: leader of the warlike Kurds, who promises to create the most peaceful country

Under the powerful onslaught of the whole world, the Kurds persistently go to the treasured purpose — to creation of own independent state. And the head of 71-year-old Massoud Barzani.

«We will not threaten you. We strive to be friendly. We hope that we will not to speak the language of threats.» These words of the President of Iraqi Kurdistan is highly specific karakteriziraju all the controversy and the drama of events there. He said them on 20 September at a large meeting in the SB on the upcoming Monday the referendum on the independence of the Kurdish autonomy.

Against the announced plebiscite rebelled and the West and the East. The US and European countries called on Kurds to abstain from the vote. Ankara and Tehran declared that a referendum could threaten their national security would be a disaster for Iraq and began to pull troops to the Iraqi border. The Baghdad demanded to immediately stop the preparations for the referendum. Even Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which, as suggested by many, support the Kurds, clearly spoke against. «For» in the middle East said Israel.

Such a reaction is understandable. Enveloped in the ongoing wars in the middle East region with great difficulty and losses are exempt from the destructive forces of IG* what is the critical role played by the Kurdish groups. Now he may again explode — from a referendum in Kurdistan.
The successor dynasty

He bears the same name as his famous ancestor, one of the founders kind of Kurdish leaders Barzani, who, according to legend, descended from the medieval rulers of the Principality of Bahdinan. A descendant of his through several generations of sheikhs became Mustafa Barzani. At age 16 he took up arms in order to become famous then in the battles and campaigns against the British, the Turks, Iranians and Iraqis. In 1915, participated in the rescue of Armenian families from genocide.

Earning the reputation of a legendary commander, became the national leader of the Kurds. Superior intellect and high moral character made Mustafa Barzani, an object of universal worship in Kurdistan.

Massoud Barzani was able for the first time to see his father only at the age of 12. But all my life wanted to be worthy of his glory. At sixteen he left school and, like his father, went to fight — joined the detachment of the Peshmerga, the Kurdish armed militias, and with this began his career of military and political figure.

After his father’s death in 1979, he took his place of leader of the Kurdistan Democratic party. In the summer of 2005 became President of Iraqi Kurdistan.

A realist and a pragmatist

Massoud Barzani is not as eloquent as his father — on the contrary, is nemnogosloven. He is careful in the estimates, it is always correct, even to his political opponents and avoiding harsh words. He does not accept maximalism and extremism, realistic and does not violate his word. Raising eight children and speaks four languages.

In 1991, after the second Gulf war, Massoud Barzani led a revolt against the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Then, the Peshmerga managed to dislodge the main forces of the Iraqi army from the North of the country, and in October, the region began to function independently. However, in 2003, after the American invasion of Iraq, Baghdad adopted a new Constitution in which Kurdistan gained autonomy, and the Kurdish language Sorani became the second official in the country. Then the Kurds have de facto returned to Iraq, believing in change. Today Barzani calls it a mistake.

The referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan was originally supposed to organise in 2014, but the date was postponed several times due to the fact that the Kurdish forces cooperated with the Iraqi Central government in the fight against ISIS* in particular, in the liberation of Mosul.

Current date — September 25 — Masoud Barzani agreed with all Kurdish and Pro-Kurdish political parties and movements. The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament almost unanimously (with three votes against) voted for it, and the President of autonomy States that the referendum will be held, come what may, and attempts by force to prevent him from carrying out the Kurds will resist with weapons in hand.